Cold
by L.MacQ
Summary: Chris spends the day with Joe's daughter, a girl he used to be friends with. Chris/OC. T for Angst and Language. Oneshot.


"Hey."

Natalia quirked a brow as she past him. "Hey."

He wanted her open his fridge and poke her head inside. "What's up?"

God he was lame. He cursed himself inwardly as she shot him an unimpressed look. "Shut up, Chris."

He nodded, going back to his oatmeal. "Right."

Unbeknownst to him, the teenage girl's lips tweaked upwards in a halfhearted smile. Chris was cute; but not her type. He was too…awkward and scrawny. It had always been their parents hope they, one day, would breed. She highly doubted that would happen. He could barely maintain eye contact with her, much less try any kind of-

Her thoughts paused when she realized she was being stared at. "What?"

His pale features darkened to a reddish hue as he laughed nervously. "I asked, if you, uh, wanted to maybe go to Atomic with me?"

"What in the fuck is Atomic?" She asked, leveling her gaze as he rubbed his hands anxiously on his legs.

"A comic book store."

Chris winced when Natalia scoffed at him. She was the closest thing he'd ever had to a friend, and he knew she couldn't stand him...at least not anymore. Thought he was a geek. It didn't help his ego that she'd grown into something hot. Lean legs and a great rack, half the dirty dreams he'd ever had involved her. She'd never so much as glanced over him though.

It bothered him, but his father told him to keep trying, so he did. "They have coffee, too."

"Hm. Well…" The brunette pursed her full lips a moment as she studied his face. She wasn't sure she could take more than a few minutes of antsy silence with him…but if he had comics to distract him, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. "Okay."

"Really?" His brows shot up as he beamed brightly at her. She shrugged, her stoic features shifting to amused for a moment before going back to emotionless. Chris stood, almost knocking the chair out from his legs. "Great! I'll get your coat!"

Angie, Chris' mother, sauntered out of the master bedroom with a smirk. Her dark eyes went from her son's retreating form to the young woman. She smiled knowingly. "What was all that about?"

"Chris is making me go to a comic book store with him."

"Mhm, I bet." Angie rolled her eyes as her son came back, his jacket on, and the girl's draped over his arm. "Well, have fun."

Natalia sighed, "We will."

Only the mother noticed the slight perk of the girl's lips as Chris helped her into her coat.

_-Downstairs_-

Natalia's worries were confirmed as soon as they left the apartment. Chris was quiet. Very, very, very fucking quiet. His lip was firmly tucked between his teeth, his eyes darting around like he was about to be sniped.

"What is it with you and comics?"

Her voice, although low and somewhat husky, startled him. His eyes shot to hers and he shrugged. The doorman let them out with only a nod before resuming his post.

"Ya know," She threw him a mocking shrug, "Isn't really an answer, Christopher."

"It's just cool, I guess." He frowned, cursing his lisp when he noticed her smirk.

She stared at him long and hard as they waited for the car to pull up. "Seriously, that's it?"

"Well, I mean, how awesome is it to just put on a mask and become someone else? No one would know you, you could do whatever you wanted…it's just cool."

Natalia gave a relenting nod. "I guess."

"Really?"

"Sure, but wouldn't it be easier to just go on the internet and whine like the rest of the little emo kids?" She asked, her smirk slightly cold. "I mean, it's just as anonymous."

"That's different," Chris shook his head. She didn't get it. She'd probably never get it. "Never mind."

Her eyes softened a moment as the Lexus pulled up beside them. "Is it really that bad?"

"What?"

"Your life? Is it really that bad that you'd want to put on a mask and be someone else?"

He frowned at her. His eyes narrowed as he spoke, "Why not? You do it all the time."

Natalia flinched. "Like hell I do." She murmured, lacing her fingers together.

Chris shook his head at her as he got into the backseat. "You comin'?"

She didn't want to get in. But she didn't want to go back upstairs and face the wraith of Angie's questioning, so she slid in next to him. He shifted to make room, and for the rest of the ride remained silent.

She knew what he was talking about. They'd all kind of been dancing around her cold demeanor for the past year or so. Things had been different since her mom died. She had been different. Natalia didn't like the change, but couldn't seem to stop it. There had never been any kind of hostility between her and Christopher before. Sure, it could be a bit awkward, but they'd known each other literally their whole lives. She had been kind of quiet, shy even, around him. Always had been. Since her mom…well, Chris had grown into a fine target for her subtle jabs. She couldn't really help it.

She was jealous of him. That he had his parents. That they were so close by all the time. Half the time she spent with her father was at the D'Amicos place. Even then she didn't have his attention, not really. Any conversations they had were usually just small talk, and while she knew Chris' dad might not be the most…hands on parent, it was obvious he cared for him.

Chris sighed and glanced at her. She was playing with her finger tips. Bad sign. He remembered once when they were kids Big Joe's house had been raided and she'd spent the night with them. They were about six. She sat on his bed the whole night and just played with her hands. He bit his lip and turned his gaze from her hands to her face. He wasn't kidding when he said she wore a mask. Her dark eyes were almost always vacant, her lips pressed into a firm line at all times. He missed her. Natalia. They were close when they were kids, real close, but something changed around when they were about ten. He got into comics, she got into, well, nothing really. Just kind of started hanging out with other girls more. Avoiding him. He didn't delude himself into believing she had a crush on him or anything, but it hurt.

They pulled up to Atomic Comics in a short matter of time. Chris opened and closed the door for her. He even opened the door of the shop for her.

A trio of boys were sitting close to the door, and apparently had no idea how loud they were speaking.

"Dude, he traded in the body guard for a hot chick!"

"Good trade." The pudgy one nodded, "If only I could hire hot chicks to follow me around. I'd have a harem of them I tell you."

"Like you could ever afford a harem of hot chicks."

"If I had mob money I could."

Natalia glanced at Chris. His back was turned to the boys, but it was clear he'd heard everything they said by the flush of his cheeks and tense frown. But he ignored them as he began fingering through milk crates full of comics. Natalia sent the boys a withering glance, but remained silent as she saddled up next to her…companion. She looked over his shoulder as he swallowed.

He really should've expected that, Chris realized. That there would be some odd stares and rude comments about her, but he really hadn't seen it coming. He cleared his throat, "I don't really feel like looking at comics anymore. You wanna go somewhere else?"

Natalia's dark eyes locked on his, "No." She brushed his hand aside and pulled out one of the books. "Is this one good?"

Chris faltered slightly at her relaxed posture. "We don't have to-"

"I want to." Her eyes sharpened slightly at him. She held the book up a bit, "Is this one good?"

He nodded, a little stunned. "Yeah, it's good."

Natalia mimicked his nod, "Cool." She left him by the milk crates. He stared after her as she seated herself into a booth. The trios eyes were followed her curiously as well but she ignored them. Grabbing one of the comics off the top of the crate, he joined her at the table. They read in silence, not bothering to pay for their comics. No one said anything. Across from him, Chris could see her lips periodically shift into something almost resembling a smirk as she read. But she never looked up.

When her book was done, she closed it in front of her and looked at him. He bit his lip, waiting for a snide comment; he was genuinely surprised when she spoke.

"It was good. Can we go now?"

He nodded dumbly, standing when she did and leaving his long forgotten book on the table. The pudgy boy from earlier was just returning to his table when Natalia passed him. She very calmly knocked his coffee from his grasp leaving him swearing quietly in her wake. Chris snickered and followed her out of the shop, pulling his phone out to call for their driver.

"Real nice, Ti."

Both froze at the old pet name, but she shrugged it off. "He was a jerk."

He smirked, and said nothing. For once the silence wasn't awkward. Or at least, it wasn't until he spoke. "Thanks."

"Yeah, well. He was a jerk," She repeated uncomfortably. Fiddling with her hands, she shrugged, "Consider us even then."

"Even?" He blinked at her.

"You needed vengeance and I needed…" She sighed, "A reality check."

"I didn't mean-"

"Yes you did."

He shook his head, "okay, I did, but it could've come out nicer."

"It was a long time coming. I shouldn't have been so…mean to you, Chris." Her dark eyes went to his. "I…It's hard. Seeing how normal your family is when mine suddenly isn't, ya know?"

The Lexus pulled on to the curb just in time. Chris could see tears forming in the corners of her brown eyes and opened the door for her. She got in wordlessly, sliding all the way to the far window of the car. The young man slid in next to her, and took one of her hands in his as she looked out the window. They sat like that a while. Her shoulders started shaking after a few minutes, and without asking, he pulled her into his lap. She didn't make any noise, just sobbed silently into his chest as he held her.

"I'm so sorry, Ti."

Natalia shook her head. Sniffling she went to pull away, but Chris looped his arms around her waist tightly. He rubbed her back soothingly as they rolled to a stoop outside his apartment. They didn't leave the car.

"Chris." She croaked, pulling far enough to look him in the eye. He stared back at her calmly, one hand moving up to brush some of her brown hair from her face. His thumb brushed her cheek, encouraging her to go on. "That comic really was good."

He chuckled as she smiled at him. His laughter was cut short however, when her lips brushed his in an awkward, ghost of a kiss. Blinking, he stared at her as she blushed and climbed off his lap.

"What was that?" Chris asked, following her out of the car with haste. He caught her by the arm as she made a run for the elevator. "Come on, Ti!"

She blushed and hit the up button. "Can we not do this here?"

He stared at her. "Fine." The ding signaled and the two stepped into the elevator. "Now, what the hell, Natalia?"

The girl blushed faintly. It was almost invisible on her olive skin tone, but it was there. "I don't know. A thank you, I guess."

"That's it?" He blinked as she looked up at him curiously, "You don't like me or anything?"

"No, not really. I mean," She paused at his hurt expression. "We're friends, Chris."

"We are?" his face broke into a wide grin that only brightened when she smiled back. "Okay." He nodded, trying to play it cool (although it was much too late for that), "I guess that'll do."

Natalia smiled and hit the penthouse button. "Idiot."

**A/N: Just wanted to try something new. I might do a second part to this between Natalia and Red Mist.**


End file.
